Linn Options, Community Services building moves forward

Linn County Supervisors on Wednesday approved the basics of a roughly $12.5 million design for a new building that will house Linn County Community Services and Options of Linn County.

It is the county's first post-flood new construction.

The project will be funded entirely or almost entirely by $7.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $5 million from I-JOBS.

David Sorg from OPN Architects presented the design to the supervisors. The relatively simple building is two stories, and will sit on a rise off 12th Street SW, in a mostly industrial area. It will be 97,000 square feet.

Bids probably won't go out until January. The sooner the county can bid the project, the better price supervisors can get, Sorg said.

“This is the best bidding climate you could ever imagine,” he said.

Community Services is the county's largest department, and includes offices for mental health and developmental disabilities, youth services, home health, the child development center, general assistance, health services and case management.

Its home before the flood was the downtown Witwer Building, which the county would like to sell.

The project should be complete by December 2010, putting most functions of community services in one building.

This is “a major change from what existed before the flood and I think will make us an even more effective and efficient department,” said John Brandt, director of Linn County Community Services.

Options of Linn County provides jobs, vocational opportunities and other services to people with disabilities. Its building at 1019 Seventh St. SE. was destroyed in the flood, and Options has been operating out of the old Target building at 3750 Williams Blvd SW.